Book 6 Chapter 11
Chapter 135
“I’ll finish all five of them in 7 seconds.”
The battle began when Akilea, who had been sleeping strapped to his back, was handed over to Casena. Ganiaxa Billid, who glimpsed a hint of fear in that movement, placed his hand on his harp, but the moment the boy's eyes flashed, time and space vanished from the world, and only the frantic binary numbers 0101010101 unfurled.
This is… an illusion?
Did he underestimate me?
“If you pluck that string, you’ll die.” Billid, who had been trying to shake off the mental enchantment and pluck the harp to unleash magic, felt a chill run through his entire body the next moment. What is this…? The fire arrow spell he had just tried to activate was clearly aimed at him. If he had plucked the string and even finished the coordinate calculation, he would have been…
“Doomz!”
Thinking his comrade had been caught in an illusion, Doomz charged forward, fiercely swinging his mace… but at that moment, sparks flew wildly, and the sound of rebar crumpling was heard.
“There truly isn’t an ounce of courtesy in these humans.”
Creak, squeak… dozens of cogs spun wildly on the surface of the gauntlet, which had not only gripped the mace but was now crushing the entire iron mass.
It was Eldvich.
He, the 5th-ranked Gold-grade adventurer, had also survived the previous surprise attack with the help of Rain. Just as he pushed the mace away and was about to go on the offensive.
“Wait!”
The leader, that is, Cheongun Fren, the de facto leader of the Jeokilhong Adventurer Guild (Jeokilhong never bestowed the title of leader on anyone other than the first leader), stepped forward, his blue hair flowing.
“It seems we misunderstood something… I never dreamed it would be you, Eldvich. Really.”
He was a young man with a unique rogue guild tattoo under his eye, a truly handsome man, just as the rumors said.
“If you wish to compensate for that surprise attack with money, we will offer the maximum reasonable compensation.”
Then Eldvich’s disdainful voice emerged as a mechanical sound from within his optical helmet.
“You tried to take our lives out of nowhere, and now you offer such a ridiculous excuse?”
“While I certainly have nothing to say about that, wouldn’t it be fair to say that you were also at fault, acting as if you were leading those beast-people?”
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean…? Didn't you get the message?”
“No.”
“They say a traitor is leading the beast-people across here right now. All adventurers are to gather at the Far West Branch and establish a defensive line, right? The Emperor has also put an incredible bounty on them.”
Casena and I could only exchange blank stares.
A traitor declared by the Emperor…
We had expected things to escalate within the Empire, but we never imagined it would reach such a colossal scale.
“Ah, Abba, A-baat!”
Aki, who had been struggling wildly in Casena’s arms, burst into tears exactly 11 seconds later.
She had grown by a whole 4 seconds…
Before she got too excited and took her tail out of her clothes, I quickly took Aki from Casena and soothed her by patting her back, and her crying slowly stopped.
“And you two are…”
Fren, who had been staring at the scene dumbfounded, said with a hesitant voice.
“Might you be Young Master Rain and Young Lady Casena?”
Could our disappearance have been such a big event that even adventurers knew about it? Casena seemed very pleased that Jeokilhong knew her name for sure.
“That’s right! I’m Casena Paige! And this is Rain Ludwig!”
As Casena nodded with an excited face, her arms haughtily crossed, Fren exhaled a blank gasp.
“Huh… so Bart’s words were true.”
“Bart? Bart?”
I was the one who reacted to that. A dizzying tremor even ran through my heart for a moment.
“Bart of Black Iron? You know him?”
“We knew each other from exploring the 4th floor with the Moby Dick Adventurer Guild. We parted ways when he left the Moby Dick Adventurer Guild during the Black Spot incident.”
“Left? Why?”
It was incomprehensible.
They were the ones who had expected the Moby Dick Adventurer Guild to be a stepping stone for growth.
“He said he was going to look for Young Master. He insisted you must be alive.”
For a moment, I couldn’t say anything. I could feel my heart pounding loudly, so much that my voice trembled weakly.
Those fools…
I told them not to worry, that I could do well on my own. But why would they abandon such a good opportunity because of me…
“But to think you weren’t missing, but eloping… Hmm, it’s late, but congratulations on the safe delivery.”
?
Doomz nodded beside him.
“Doomz.”
The sole female archer, Scael, also looked back and forth between me, Casena, and Aki, flashing a cunning smile.
“Well, they say people used to get married and have babies at fifteen. They say a woman’s body is best for childbirth in her mid to late teens, don’t they?”
“Doomz Doomz.”
“But if black and light purple are combined, does it make red? Billid, if you mix paints, does it look like that?”
Casena’s face was so red that she couldn’t even speak, so I quickly raised my hand to calm the wave of misunderstanding.
“Wait, waitwaitwait… you guys are making a huge mistake right now.”
“Doomz?”
“How could you become Gold-grade adventurers with such poor observation skills? How can you possibly see this as our daughter?”
At that, the Jeokilhong adventurers rather tilted their heads as if asking why I was questioning something so obvious.
“Well… she’s completely the spitting image of you two.”
Spitting image my ass, just as I was about to strongly object, a procession of beast-people appeared. The emotion that surfaced in the Jeokilhong's eyes at that moment… I stepped between them.
“Wait. I can explain everything. The beast-people are not enemies.”
“What nonsense is that… Then, surely, you weren't the traitor, Young Master?”
The Jeokilhong adventurers took a step back from me, assuming battle stances once more.
As the situation turned hostile in an instant… I was beyond baffled, utterly dumbfounded.
We seemed to be having a friendly conversation, but then they suddenly became so hostile, without even listening to an explanation.
“Eldvich, why are you with them? Don't you know what's happening?”
Lorentz, his face more bewildered than hostile, asked cautiously.
“It’s the leader’s order. I merely follow. To guide the beast-people to the Far West Branch.”
“The leader’s order? Does that mean Frisvia is involved in this? She couldn’t possibly be unaware of the conflict that would arise between the Empire and the Three Kingdoms if this reaches the Emperor’s ears…”
“I don't know what she's thinking. But I do know that you are currently obstructing her will.”
In a land where the logic of power governed all, was the prestige of the 1st-ranked Platinum-grade truly overwhelming? The Jeokilhong adventurers slowly began to retreat. As if they had no intention of hearing my will or Frisvia's intentions, they continued to put distance between us.
As their figures vanished into the mist of Trident Point, Fren’s voice was heard one last time.
“You two say it’s not treason, but will the Emperor truly understand that?”
“…”
“What will become of your families in the Empire because of this… we don't know. We have no choice but to draw a line here.”
I had vaguely expected it, but at this moment, I knew for sure.
The adventurers would not welcome us. And only by overcoming such adventurers could we take the beast-people across the sea.
This was a lawless land where swords were closer than laws, a land where power governed all.
* * *
A massive ship docked at the pier of the Alliance's Far West Branch.
What had happened? Even adventurers, renowned for their arrogance born of pride in their strength, felt a strange thrill and were forced to their knees. The emblem elegantly embroidered with silver thread on the military flag, fluttering heavily at the bow, was a Black Tortoise embracing the Holy Grail.
“The Black Tortoise is the emblem of the Aejin family…”
“And the Holy Grail is only used by families chosen as Emperor…!”
If this ship had merely carried the Emperor’s envoy, such extreme deference would not have been shown. Who are adventurers? Are they not those who follow power, seek power, and obey power…? And this is Trident Point; no riff-raff exist here.
Figures possessing such immense magical power and brilliant renown, enough to bring such adventurers to their knees, walked out, stepping onto the plank lowered from the ship’s side to the pier.
“It’s the Four Heavenly Sages of the Emperor’s River…”
“Former Platinum 2nd, Saeghan Wolf Blado, and 6th, Leoren…!”
The dignity of Crown Prince Laida Aejin, who led them, was also incredibly great for a sixteen-year-old, but it seemed faint before the imposing presence of the two.
Saeghan and Leoren were beings with completely contrasting personalities. Saeghan of the magic-wielding noble family was ruthless and thorough, as befitting a northerner, while Leoren, a descendant of Palace Kiess, was so laid-back that he was complacent in everything.
“Ugh, to think I have to come to this terrible land again.”
Leoren, his verdant hair flowing, grumbled, yawning repeatedly.
Saeghan was expressionless. Her fluttering dark red hair was chilling, like blood gushing from a severed artery. The blado family's robes and leather boots she wore beneath were also dark red, and her entire appearance was at once incomparably alluring and utterly sinister.
This was unavoidable because Saeghan's mood was not just bad; it was at its worst.
‘Not only is my beloved younger sibling accused of treason, but I have to clean up the mess…’
This might be a test from the imperial family. A test of the Blado family’s innocence and resolve… The family’s very survival was teetering on a knife’s edge.
“We received a message from the Griffin Rider and were awaiting your arrival.”
The deputy manager of the Alliance's Far West Branch bowed respectfully.
“It’s still peaceful. The traitor hasn’t arrived yet, it seems?”
“Information that they’ve been sighted near the Third Finger estuary is slowly coming in, but…”
Then, creak, Laida stopped, and under his weight, the corroded planks of the dock groaned ominously.
“If there have been so many sightings, why are those bastards still alive?”
The deputy manager, his eyes wide in an instant, immediately knelt on one knee and reported.
“It seems accurate information hasn’t been delivered to all adventurers yet…! For now, we’ve only sent out the current situation and the order to gather at the Far West Branch.”
The deputy manager, who dealt with adventurers as powerful as they were unruly (the branch manager was currently absent, supporting a labyrinth exploration), was also quite skilled, but what could he do before a prince who commanded two of the strongest warriors of the current era?
“If that’s the case, then it’s fine.”
The Crown Prince, who had been narrowing his eyes and looking down at the deputy manager as if sizing him up, eventually turned, his robe fluttering.
“A fleet will arrive in an hour or two. Five thousand Imperial soldiers are aboard. Prepare to receive them.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
At that very moment, at the harbor entrance where the swamp merged with the sea, bubbles seemed to boil furiously, and then, in an instant, a colossal shadow was cast over the harbor. Pure white confusion instantly raced through the adventurers' minds.
“No, that thing is…!”
“A-grade Sea King Demonic Beast, Guillotine…?!”
“Did that idiot dock manager forget to close the barrier…?!”
In the midst of that chaos, the Crown Prince and the Four Heavenly Sages maintained their usual expressions. No, they rather glanced up at the primeval monstrosity as if finding it amusing.
“Saeghan, you handle it.”
“Yes.”
A blade suddenly sprouted from the steel ring Saeghan wore on his left thumb. When he deeply cut his palm with the blade, fresh blood flowed freely. After he rhythmically sprinkled that blood onto the monstrous creature charging with its terrifying maw wide open, and the moment he formed the Bloodline Limit mudra—
—it vanished.
The very space where the blood was sprinkled by an unknown force…
“Your Imperial Highness!”
“Evade!”
“Behind, behind you!”
Even as Guillotine, riddled with holes, collapsed onto the pier, unable to control its momentum, Saeghan’s movements were full of composure.
He simply continued to walk.
Following behind the Prince.
Upon the fall of the indescribable giant body, a column of water violently shot up, and soon, water droplets flew like rain, intensely spreading the smell of the sea.
“…?!”
“…?!”
“…?!”
Yet, incredibly, the three were unharmed. Not only them, but also the harbor district of the Far West Branch and even the warships docked there.
The adventurers, who had been staring blankly at the scene before grasping the situation, soon felt their eyes tremble with awe. It was… truly a work of art. There was no other way to describe it.
‘The holes pierced through Guillotine’s body…’
‘…precisely tore it in half…’
‘…without hitting the pier or the warships…’
Blood and organs spilled out from Guillotine’s terribly ripped body, emitting a foul stench.
Even though he had instantly subjugated an A-grade Sea King Demonic Beast, which Gold-grade adventurers struggled with and would boast about for years if they were lucky enough to defeat, Saeghan showed no particular reaction. As if this outcome was as natural as the sun rising and setting… the adventurers swallowed dryly.
‘This person is Saeghan, the Magic Star…’
‘The strongest Battle Mage of this generation…’
‘Beast-people or traitors, they wouldn’t even be a match for a single punch…?’